


Blackout

by Badassium1970



Series: Chemicals [1]
Category: overwatch
Genre: Anxiety, Chemicals, F/M, Fake Science, Fluff, Medical Experimentation, Slightly flirty McCree
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-09
Updated: 2017-08-09
Packaged: 2018-12-13 08:27:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,542
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11755929
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Badassium1970/pseuds/Badassium1970
Summary: You're a scientist that was captured and experimented on before Overwatch saved you. You agreed to help Overwatch, especially since you're scared of hurting people due to your blackouts. It's made you stay away from the other heroes but the arrival of Junkrat may change your ways.





	Blackout

I had been hesitant on joining Overwatch after I had been saved by the man who called himself Soldier 76. He said that I would be welcome, and that they knew of my skills as a scientist, that I would ‘be a valuable asset as long as I didn’t get caught again’ which almost made me say no on the spot. I couldn’t believe that this man was being so rude to me while trying to recruit me. He stated that I needed to go to the base anyway to be patched up and to check what exactly the chemicals pumped into me had done, and if it meant that I wouldn’t be able to continue my job as a scientist.

I had been kidnapped and used as a science experiment for just over four months at this point. The stuff they had pumped into me had caused me to have periods where I blacked out and what I did during those times were unknown to me. I noticed that I was stronger, I didn’t need to sleep for more than a couple of hours, didn’t need to eat or drink as much, I could go days without food, drink or sleep. I knew all of this due to the tests they had done on me. It was inhumane, something I would never have done, but from research I had previously done I could tell that they were probably injecting me with whatever was used in the soldier enhancement programme. The documents I had gotten access to never told me what was actually used, only the effects that it had and the dosage. The fact that I had been feeling the effects that I had at this point it was clear that whoever was conducting this experiment on me was using too high a dose or they had modified whatever was being injected into me.

When I arrived that the Overwatch base I was rushed into the med bay by a nurse who introduced herself as Angela, I recognised her from research I had done, and knew that she had somehow brought a man named Genji back to life, however she never stated how. There were many theories and to some she was viewed as a villain, tampering with nature and how the world should be. She’d claimed that she would never do it again, but she did not regret helping Genji. I knew that it was probably best that I didn’t bring it up now, as curious as I was.

Angela informed me that the chemicals were indeed very similar to the ones that were used in the soldier enhancement programme, but they were not the same. They had been altered to provide quicker results, and were unstable. She could flush any toxins that would cause me harm out of my systems and would need to keep me here so she knew what happened during my blackouts. It looked like whether I liked it or not I was going to be staying with Overwatch for a while longer, I just hoped that I didn’t see that asshole Soldier again.

As time went on I began to feel like I hadn’t quite yet escaped being an experiment, but at least Angela was kind. She kept a watchful eye but also made sure that I had some privacy, and the best thing was that she treated me like a person.

Although what was left of whatever was pumped into me had been flushed out, I would still keep the new abilities that I had acquired, which wasn’t a problem, they could come in useful, however Angela was having trouble figuring out how to stop my blackouts. She found that most times during my black outs I just became very scared and confused, but sometimes I would grow violent. I couldn’t help but laugh when she said that I punched Soldier in the face when he came to check on how much progress had been made. She gave me a stern telling off, but I could see she was biting back a smile.

I was given the opportunity to leave Overwatch, but would be required to have an assistant to make sure I did not cause harm to anyone, including myself, during my blackouts. Going back into the world scared me, and I feared being captured again. With Overwatch I was safe, I had been promised my own lab and although my job would primarily be working on ways to improve weapons, bionic fields and the like, I also had the freedom to conduct other experiments as long as they were approved by Winston, and honestly, he seemed pretty easy to convince, not that I would abuse that detail. I also trusted Angela a lot more that some random assistant, and preferred to work along anyway so an assistant would just be an annoyance.

Overwatch quickly became my new home. I was still a little afraid, and I could tell that people were a hesitant to get close to me, knowing about my blackouts, and it didn’t help that I was quite distant from everyone else. Being distant wasn’t something I used to do one purpose, but now with my blackouts I feared getting too close to anyone since it would be more likely that they would be around me during a blackout and therefore the risk of hurting them grew. I never allowed people in my lab apart from Angela and Winston. It got lonely sometimes, even after some people tried to get closer with me, but I wasn’t unhappy, and I was safe.

I had been with Overwatch for almost a year before the Junkers arrived. Angela had asked me to help her with some tests in the med bay since the two had been in Australia for a long time. I wondered how they had survived so long, especially since they seemed to have a lot of health complications, but somehow the chemicals in that wasteland had aided their bodies in ways that made it so most health complications didn’t bother them, and weren’t a threat, at least they weren’t yet. Angela wanted me to keep an eye on the one who called himself Junkrat, and politely asked if I could keep him in my lab for a few days. Of course, I wanted to say no, but Angela had been so kind to me, and this was part of my job, so I agreed to take care of the Junker.

Junkrat was extremely twitchy, refusing to stay still. He kept picking things up, looking confused at them before putting them down. I asked him to stop, but he ignored me and began tinkering with Soldier’s pulse rifle which I had been trying to modify to be more effective.

“Please don’t do that, if that thing breaks I may actually be killed,” I sighed, exasperated. There was no point shouting at this guy, it wasn’t worth losing my voice anyway, so I took the approach of being as kind as I could.

“But it already is broken,” he pointed out before going back to messing with it. Where did he even get that screwdriver from? I went to take it off him but he slapped my hand away. I could feel myself growing angry, my mind going fuzzy and I tried to calm down.

“Oi Shella, you alright?” The Junker had stopped messing with Solder’s weapon and was looking at me, concerned.

I shook my head, telling him to leave, but he refused, stating that if I needed help then he wasn’t going to leave. As kind as that was the fact that he wasn’t listening to me just frustrated me more now that I was in this state. I pressed the button near my computer that would warn Angela that I needed help and just hoped that she got here in time.

The last thing I remembered was Junkrat getting me to sit down, next thing I knew I was in the med bay. My head hurt, but that wasn’t uncommon. What was uncommon was the fact that there was someone sitting next to me, and it wasn’t Angela.

“Hey Shella, you’re awake!”

I looked at the Junker in confusion, wondering why he had stayed with me. Weirdly I didn’t mind, sure he had been annoying down at in my lab, but he also showed that he was caring. I noticed that he had a bandage on his arm and I dreaded that I had hurt him. He saw my shocked face, and followed my look to his arm.

“Don’t worry ‘bout that, just had a few shots. Hurt like a bitch though,” Junkrat cringed and I could see a look of fear appear on his face. Was he afraid of needles? That was kind of cute.

“Is that why you’re here?” I asked, feeling a little deflated that Junkrat wasn’t here to check on me.

“Nah, that was days ago. Wanted to make sure you were okay. You were so scared, so I wanted to make sure you were okay.” Junkrat seemed a little shy. It was weird but I felt happy that he wanted to check on me, no one but Angela had really shown much kindness towards me, although I guessed that was partly my fault.

Junkrat and I spoke for a while longer, getting to know each other, until Angela came to check on me. She told Junkrat to go check on Mako, who I assumed was the other guy who came in with him.

“You two seem to being getting along well,” she commented with a smile, I could tell she was hinting at something but chose to ignore it.

“He’s nice I guess, pissed me off but it was kind of him to stay with me.” I shrugged, winching because it hurt. My body always hurt after a blackout but for the most part I was used to it.

“I think you could do with a friend, it’s not healthy to stay locked in your lab all the time.” Angela was clearly concerned, she’d tried to get me to socialise more but I refused. She never pushed it, knowing that it would be worse if she did, but she was always worried for me. I knew she was probably right, but if I hurt someone I wouldn’t be able to handle it, and what if I had to leave Overwatch because of it? This place was my home. No, it was better for me to be alone.

“I know it’s a lot to ask you, but would you at least consider going to lunch with Jamison and Mako today?”

Jamison, so that was his name. I’d never heard of anyone with that name before, slightly unusual. It suited him.

“I… I’ll consider it, but no promises,” I told her, not wanting to be rude.

Looking at the time I realised that there were only a couple hours until lunch, and I still needed to fix Soldier’s pulse riffle. Angela let me go, stating that Jamison would come and see if I wanted to go up and get lunch. I was thankful that she wasn’t letting him back in my lab today.

Modifying and fixing 76’s gun didn’t take as long as I thought it would, it seemed that when Junkrat, or Jamison I guess, was on to something when he removed some of the parts. Now the weapon looked a little less flashy, but it wasn’t as heavy, and hopefully it would work. I’d test it in the training area after lunch.

I started cleaning up, keeping any scraps of metal that may prove useful in the future, when someone knocked on the door. Looking at the clock it was about ten minutes till lunch. I sighed, unsure of whether I should go to lunch or not, it wasn’t like I really needed to eat much anyway. Leaving Jamison alone however, could be considered unprofessional, and he was a nice enough guy. I didn’t know anything about Mako yet, but hopefully he was decent.

Taking a deep breath I opened the door, and was greeted by an enthusiastic Junkrat, as well as a person whom I assumed to be Mako, he said a brief hello, his voice deep, and a little scary, he seemed scary and was about three times my size, but I wasn’t going to judge him before I knew him.

“Ya ready? I’ve been starvin’ over here. Just wasting away…” Jamison swoon dramatically, and Mako caught him. Had they practiced that?

“Yeah, I’m good to go,” I chuckled nervously, leading them to the main dining area, even though they probably knew where it was by now, almost taking a wrong turn since I barely went there. Upon entering I saw some people turn their heads, staring at us. I hoped they were concentrating more on the new guys, but I heard a whisper of my name and instantly tried to hid in my hair, wishing the ground would swallow me up and take me back to my lab.

“Always staring at us,” I heard Junkrat mutter under his breath, sounding a little angry.

“Huh?” I questioned, since I knew they were staring at me.

“Think they’re scared of us, y’know we’re unstable or whatever because of the chemicals and mutations. I mean it’s true sometimes, but would be nice if people gave us a chance.” He seemed upset, and I understood that since I felt the same way when I joined, I was being judged for the fact that I could be unstable, but I never did anything to help people understand me. I never made friends, but I could help Junkrat and Mako not make the same mistakes.

After we got our food I lead them to a table where Lena, Jesse, Hana and Lucio were sitting, figuring that they were the least likely to be judgemental. I was debating sitting with Genji and Zenyatta but I didn’t really need to be psychoanalysed today.

“Is it okay if we sit here?” I asked nervously, feeling everyone’s eyes on me.

“Of course it is luv. It’s nice to see you out of the lab for once,” Tracer’s cheery voice welcomed me, and I smiled at her, it was hard not to smile when she seemed to radiate a good mood.

“Real sight for sore eyes I’d say,” McCree drawled, winking at me, which made me blush, and I swore I heard Jamison huff, but maybe I was imagining it.

Hana and Lucio began questioning Jamison and Mako about Australia. Lucio had wanted to tour there but it was too big a risk, at least that’s what his manager had said. Mako confirmed that no one should willingly go there now. Hana seemed interested in Jamison’s bomb making abilities, and he promised he would show her how he made them sometime. Tracer looked very concerned at that, and Jesse promised to keep an eye on her, which made her look more worried, so I promised to take care of it.

This was nice. I didn’t think this was going to be a pleasant experience but things were going okay, and I was beginning to feel more at home that I ever had.

**Author's Note:**

> Follow me on tumblr: 
> 
> Fic blog: https://www.tumblr.com/blog/shipgrumps-equals-hashtag-boner 
> 
> Art blog: https://www.tumblr.com/blog/red-retro-rose


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